


Sunscreen and Silver Scales

by cybernya



Series: Of Volleyballs and Fins [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-06-07 15:52:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6811954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cybernya/pseuds/cybernya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New to the sandy throne, lifeguard Sawamura Daichi traded the pool for the beach, ready for anything thrown his way. Does that include a curious merman? Probably not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Glance

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE thank you to the Sin Squad for encouraging me to write this. I haven't written a fic in a long time, let alone what will be part of a series!
> 
> (Also, first AO3 post. Tags are going to be added in the future as more characters actually make an appearance. That's how it works, right?)

Daichi sat atop the white chair, scanning the water in front of him. It was his first year guarding open water, and it was a nice change of pace from being at a pool. 

Part of that was because he also agreed to run the beach volleyball tournaments that occurred throughout summer, but that wasn’t important right now.

What was important was that he kept his eyes on the water, constantly scanning different patterns through the top and bottom of the waves. Small children could easily be swept out by the current if they wandered too far, and Daichi needed to be prepared for anything.

Did that include merfolk?

Probably not.

 

Beyond the rocks that signified the boundary of the beachgoers, the sun hit something silver moving beneath the waves. Sugawara Koshi moved swiftly along the sea floor, the lower half of his torso a gradient of silver. His scales caught the sun once more, and suddenly it looked like he was glowing. Even his hair had a similar luminous quality to his tail, the sand around him picking up the reflected light. 

Suga was told by the alway-energetic Hinata that there was a new human on the big throne in the sand. Surely, the goldfish must have meant the large chair usually occupied by someone in red as Kageyama pointed out. But those two weren’t the only ones murmuring about the new human on the beach; some of his fellow mermaids seemed to enjoy gossiping. 

Second-hand information could only be so useful, so Suga decided to check it out himself.

There was always a sense of anxiety when approaching the shoreline; smaller humans were loud and didn’t think about where they stepped next. The older ones were a bit better behaved, though there was the worry they’d draw attention over. It was best to keep a large enough distance from the furthest swimmer, though Suga quietly thanked the beach for naturally having rocks to use as cover.

Hiding behind one of the larger rocks, he peered around the side to try and figure out which human was new. Part of him was hoping that this wasn’t all just some sad trick - but then, why would the other mermaids be talking about them? Suga’s attention quickly moved to the large white chairs where he observed a blonde human who he had seen before… and a dark-haired one he hadn’t. 

He decided that humans were very interesting creatures.

Daichi hummed to himself scanning shapes into the different areas of the water, keeping a count of how many children with floaties were swimming in the gentle pull of the waves. The tide appeared to slowly be going out, and the sun was strong. Though it was only the start of the beach season, there was already a small constellation of freckles on his left shoulder. The sun seemed to love him like everyone else... Though there were days where it wasn’t as kind. Daichi made a mental note to purchase more sunscreen, as he knew a sunburn wasn’t something his volleyball teammates would let him forget.

Suga hummed to himself as crept closer, moving around the rock without trying to draw any attention to himself. Hopefully, he just looked like someone who was playing an intense game of hide-and-seek- while in the water. Suddenly, there was a sharp tweet, and the merman appeared horrified.

Daichi had blown his whistle at a few teenagers attempting to swim past the boundary rocks, three or four away from where Suga was hiding. 

“Bring it back in, boys!” the lifeguard shouted, “you know the rules!” 

The small group of determined teens groaned and turned back; Suga swallowed nervously as he hoped he went unnoticed. While it was nice that this new lifeguard seemed to enforce the rules, it was also worrisome. How could he observe any closer without drawing attention to himself? With that, the merman decided it was a good time to slip back underwater, wheels turning in his head to figure out what he would do next time.

Daichi squinted at one of the further rocks, swearing he had seen someone with gray hair hiding on the further side of it. He blinked, and the person was gone. The sweat was wiped from his brow as the lifeguard decided to chalk it up to the sun, making a mental note to check the rock sometime later. Suddenly, there was a flash of silver, the sun catching whatever was beneath the waves that elicited a confused sound from Daichi. 

His mental note just got a giant star next to it.


	2. SHARK!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tanaka and Noya claim they've seen a shark in the water. Daichi is not amused.

Suga had decided, after trying to explain to Hinata why it was a chair and not a throne, that he would be visiting the beach quite often. Not because he found himself attached to the new human already, no; he simply wanted to enrich his knowledge of human culture.

That’s what he kept telling himself, anyway.

 

It was once again bright out, and Daichi applied another layer of sunscreen before setting the orange whistle between his lips. There was no way he was going to allow himself to repeat the sunburn he had last summer while at lifeguarding at the pool. Especially not when he would be leading a volleyball team. His teammates and opponents would never let him live it down…

Two of his teammates, Tanaka and Nishinoya, had just finished a quick pickup game when they ran straight into the water. Some of the bystanders found themselves in the splash zone as the two kicked up the waves, grumbling at the fact that neither had bothered to slow down. They quickly took off for deeper water as they swam straight towards the boundary rocks, racing each other.

Daichi knew he was in for it with those two in the water. The other lifeguards have shared stories on how they claim that the water is ‘shark infested’ even though sharks didn’t even inhabit the area. They’ve started countless rumours about sunken ships and ghosts that haunt the beach, and were probably going to be even more trouble with their captain being a beach guard.

Even the merfolk were wary of the pair. 

 

Suga took his time approaching the beach, reminding himself he was doing this to enrich his knowledge. He even had to shake off Lev and Hinata multiple times, who insisted on going because “they wanted to learn more about humans too!” Thankfully the two potential troublemakers took the hint when Yachi bumped into them, muttering something about waterproof paper.

He was thankful, really - not like he wanted to keep this information to himself, but it was safer to observe as one merman, not three. Lev and Hinata required more than just warnings on what they can and cannot do; they were more like small children who needed to have their hands held before they swam off. Suga thanked whatever guardian that was watching him, though he did feel bad Yachi was now the focus of their shenanigans. The poor girl never caught a break with those two.

At the furthest boundary rock, Tanaka and Noya were taking turns trying to see who could dive the deepest. While the beach rules said they couldn’t go beyond the rocks, there was nothing that restricted them from jumping off the rocks.

Suga was getting ready to swim up before something landed in front of him. Noya had dived off the rock down into the water, and thankfully the merman went unnoticed. He cursed internally, trying to move out of the way before another human came crashing down. There was no time to react; all Suga could do was turn around and swim towards deeper water. That way, if they did see him, it would only be his tail. He hoped that the two diving humans were smarter than some of his merfolk counterparts and would believe him to simply be a fish. He didn't have much hope, though. Suga had heard stories about how one poor mermaid was mistaken for a shark...

“SHARK!” Tanaka and Noya screamed in unison, having spotted Suga’s silver tail. 

Suga felt his stomach drop. He knew his tail was sliver, but there was definitely a difference in colour between himself and a shark.

Daichi’s head snapped from the other edge of the beach to the boundary rock and groaned. Another lifeguard, Kiyoko, approached Daichi at the chair and let out a small laugh. 

“We were doing so well..” Daichi grumbled, watching from afar as Tanaka and Noya began to climb the boundary rock, shrieking about the shark they claimed to have witnessed. 

“Why don’t you go talk your teammates down, Captain? You look like you could use a quick swim anyway.” 

The two guards switched positions as Daichi removed his tank. At the edge of the water, a very nervous Asahi stood, staring at his friends who were currently trying to climb over each other. Daichi paused next to him for a moment, patting him on the back before wading out. He placed the tube strap across his chest, knowing he’d probably have to drag the two back towards the shore.

Suga, who had been able to escape the two panicked humans’ sight, circled around to the other side of the boundary rock they were on. It was probably too close, with the way they were climbing all over each other and the rock, but it was a risk Suga was willing to take. He peered up over the top of the water to see that the new lifeguard was not seated at the throne; instead, there was a female human, with sharp looking sunglasses and dark hair.

Where was the new human? Suga was ripped from his thoughts as the two panicked humans began screeching at each other, louder than before.

“SHARK! There’s a SHARK OVER HERE!” Noya screeched, trying to use Tanaka to push himself higher.

“Oi, oi! Don’t push me in! I don’t wanna become shark food!” Tanaka retorted, removing Noya’s hand from his face, causing him to struggle.

Suga laughed before seeing some arms moving towards them, water kicked up as the human swam over. He ducked behind the rock, away from the open water. The human slowed as he approached the rock, and suddenly the risk of being this close to the panicking humans paid off. But the lifeguard was soon out of view as he swam closer to the rock.

“Alright you two, cut it out,” Daichi said, taking on the tone of a stern captain rather than a friendly lifeguard. He began treading water as he raised an eyebrow at the now still Tanaka and Noya, pushing his goggles onto his forehead. “You know that these are not shark-inhabited waters. It was probably just a large fish.”

Up on the rock, Tanaka huffed; “I’m not gettin’ down. There was a large silver tail. It was a shark. A shark!” Noya nodded above him, lips drawn into a tight line. 

Suga, listening to their entire conversation from the other side of the rock, became wide-eyed. They had seen part of him. He had expected that, but not being described to the other human.

“Fine, fine. I’ll check the area for any sharks -” Daichi paused, absolutely not thrilled about his teammates’ behaviour, “and then we’re going back to the shore, where you’ll be doing some diving drills in the sand.”

Part of him hoped that the silver tail was whatever he had seen the day before while in the chair. As he glanced around, Daichi noticed that there was nothing silver near him. He surfaced for a moment before moving to swim around the other side of the rock, before being nearly blinded by a reflection in the water.

“--what the hell?” he cursed as he surfaced, pulling his goggles up to rub at his eyes. 

The same silver reflection he saw yesterday was now directly in front of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goldfish Hinata strikes again. Just picture him saying 'human' as 'HOOMAN.'
> 
> I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am!


	3. The Little Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga used Solar Flare!

Suga and Daichi were suddenly face to face. 

They stared at each other, wide-eyed for a moment. Daichi rubbed at his eyes as he tread water, and Suga gripped at the rock. The sun caught the merman’s tail just right and the lifeguard was blinded again, hissing as he covered his eyes. 

Suga was frozen, but he knew he had to take the moment to swim away. Part of him wanted to stay and speak to the human, whose hair still managed to stick up a bit even while wet, but another part of him screamed to swim away. He tilted his head to the side before being brought back into the moment by the screeching coming from the other side of the rock. With that, Suga gasped and dove under water, his heart pounding as he swam underneath Daichi and away from the shore.

Daichi grumbled as he finally opened his eyes, no longer blinded by the silver reflection in the water. He frowned as he realized that the person - merman? - was no longer in front of him. It had to have been a merman, Daichi told himself, as there was clearly a silver tail attached to a human torso. Quickly, he snapped his head over his shoulder, lips drawn together in concentration as he tried to figure out where they had disappeared to. There was no sign of the silver tail or gray hair anywhere near him, even as he swam to the other side of the rock where Noya and Tanaka were still screaming.

“There was nothing over there…” he stated, trying to burn the image of the merman into his memory. Grey hair, shining, wide eyes; a birthmark at the corner of his left eye. He fixated on the details, completely distracted until he felt someone climb on top of him. Noya had jumped off the rock and climbed onto Daichi’s shoulders in an effort to escape the ‘shark.’ 

“I don’t believe you!” shouted Tanaka, still clinging to the rock as if his life depended on it.

“Just get off the rock already,” he managed to reply while attempting to remove Noya from his shoulders. 

It took far more convincing than Daichi had planned and he was very much done with the pair. He dragged them back to shore, towing them with the lifeguarding tube strapped across his back. There were better things he could have been doing with the time he spent convincing Thing 1 and Thing 2 to go back to shore.

For instance, swimming further out to find out where that silver tail had disappeared to.

 

Suga was panicked, convinced he just ruined any chance at speaking to a human. Sure, his tail had caught the light at the perfect moment to escape, but running away like that seemed cowardly. He swam out away from the beach for what seemed like forever until he reached a large rock, conveniently away from prying humans and merfolk. He needed to cool down immediately; there was no way he could face Hinata, Kageyama, and Lev all at the same time. His pokerface was absolutely terrible, and they’d run him over with questions about what had happened.

“Oh my God,” he stammered as he pulled himself out of the water and onto the rock’s warm surface. The sun was still incredibly strong, and his tail took on a polished appearance while out of the water. Suga put his face in his hands and sighed, the image of Daichi appearing when he closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure what he found himself focusing on first; the freckles that dusted Daichi’s shoulders, or the way he looked the moment they made eye contact. 

The rock remained peaceful until the sound of bickering decided to surface. 

“I told you he’d be here!”

Suga pulled his head out of his hands, grimacing when he saw that Hinata and Kageyama were above the water. Hinata was actually trying to climb onto the rock, struggling as Kageyama held him back by his golden-orange tail. 

“Oi, Hinata!” Kageyama said, pulling the goldfish backward.

“Bakageyama!” Hinata hissed, “let go of me!”

Suga cursed internally as he decided to intervene, slipping back into the water and separating the two mermen.

“What have I told you two?” he said sternly, raising an eyebrow. “Can we go one day without an incident?” There was a sense of pleading in his voice; Suga almost felt as if he were speaking to the two humans who had climbed the rock earlier.

“That’s why we came here! Kageyama and I heard from Yachi who heard from someone she knows said that a hooman said there was a shark at the beach! A silver shark! A-And that was the beach you had mentioned last night! The one with the new hooman that sits on the throne!” 

Kageyama looked irritated as Hinata shouted excitedly about the news they had heard. Lev had slipped away from their group earlier, so they assumed it had been the longer merman at first. But after Lev came to them, excited about the rumour, they knew the only other merman with a tail that colour was Suga.

All Suga could do was smile, a hand running through his damp hair as they remained above the surface. It seemed that the news of a “shark” spotting traveled quickly, and he suddenly wished his tail wasn’t so silver. If it had been darker, or a different colour, the entire incident may have been avoided. 

“It seems as if I’ve been confused for a shark,” he shrugged, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. If he showed any kind of weakness, it was game over.

“That’s so cool Suga-san!” Hinata gasped, eyes and mouth wide.

Kageyama huffed in irritation before he was pulled into a slight embrace along with Hinata. 

“I hope this means you won’t be going anywhere towards that beach,” Suga smiled, putting his arms around both mermen. His tone was rather stern, though the look on his face gave a totally different message. 

 

For the rest of his shift, Daichi found his eyes lingering once more on the last boundary rock, waiting to see if a head of gray hair would appear. By the end of the day, there had not been any sightings, not even that of a silver reflection in the water. He let out a sigh of disappointment, though he didn’t really blame the merman for not returning after being spotted by a human. 

 

That night was the first of many nights where Daichi had a dream about his silver-tailed merman. No matter how far he swam, or how far his arm reached out, he could never reach him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While writing, the only thing I could picture was Suga using Tien's move, Solar Flare. I thought it was hilarious. (I mean, I am hilarious...)
> 
> And although it isn't stated, Kageyama's tail is a dark royal blue. Suga's is still my favourite, though. I just can't stop imagining how beautiful he looked on the rock :3


	4. Tally Marks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swim, stare, repeat.
> 
> Volleyball practice begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been stumped regarding the pacing of this chapter for a while... but here it is!

 

“Hey Suga-san? What's a Thighchi?” Hinata asked, swimming around Suga. Kageyama had a pout on his face as the goldfish began to repeat the question.

“Thighchi? Where did you hear that from?” Suga blinked, perplexed.

“Yachi said something about humans and that the other mermaids have said there's a Thighchi around? I dunno what a Thighchi is.”

“Well I'm not so sure myself. Why don't you go ask Yachi then?”

“You've been visiting that beach almost every day for the last week. We thought you'd heard something from the humans who thought you were a shark," Kageyama said flatly, lips pressed into a thin line.

 

Hinata obviously didn't hear Kageyama, as he quickly grabbed his friend's hand and pulled him away from the older merman. "I'm sure Yachi knows! She's smart! Thank you, Suga-san!"

The two mermen sped off, hoping to find Yachi relatively soon so they could find out what a Thighchi was.

 

He felt bad sending the terrible two to her, but Suga needed to be alone. There was no way he could head towards the shore with those two in tow - again. He had done so a few days earlier and definitely regret that decision. It was chaos; Lev had even tagged along and it was life he was dealing with a bunch of children. It was almost as if they were distantly related to the two humans who caused the shark incident.

 

  
Suga took his approach to the beach slowly, taking his time to surface at the boundary rocks. He spent time at each one, keeping an eye out for any human coming within a few feet of his location and continuously changing where he was. The merman did not want to draw any attention to himself, and he didn’t want the new lifeguard to suspect anything either.

 

Hours passed, and Suga watched closely as Daichi began to call in the rest of the swimmers. The sun was beginning to set, and many humans were getting ready to go home. They were packing up their towels and chairs as children slowly made their way out of the water. He wished that the sun didn't have to set like it did, only so that he could observe the lifeguard more. Suga

 

  
Daichi pulled a small, folded piece of paper out of his hip pack before climbing down off the chair. At the top was scribbled ‘merman’ - and there were three different columns. The first was labelled sightings, with a handful of tally marks underneath. The second, swims, with double the amount of tallies as the first; the final column was labelled meetings, and there was only one mark, representing the day that Daichi met Suga. He frowned, folding the piece of paper back up and stuffing it back into his pack. It had been a week since they first come face to face - and since the dreams started torturing him. He was always reaching out, the silver tail sparkling in the water as they swam for what seemed like forever. The merman’s features were burned into his mind, including the little birthmark under his left eye. Daichi wished he had seen the merman smile more, but that seemed like he was asking for too much.

 

He also thought asking for another chance meeting was too much, but he’d never admit it.

 

Suga watched from the final boundary rock, waiting for Daichi to enter the building towards the top of the sand. Once the lifeguard usually entered, it meant that the day was over and that he should return the next day.

But today was different. Daichi picked a colourful ball from out of his bag that was by the chair. Suga squinted, trying to make out what was going on. Soon, three other humans joined him, tossing another ball between themselves. He recognized that they were the two troublemakers, as well as a taller human with a bun. The merman, noticing how the sun was slipping behind the horizon, took the opportunity to swim closer. He had never seen something like this before; sure, there had always been beach balls floating around once they got deflated, but he had never seen humans play such a game.

The female lifeguard even joined them, hanging up a net between two poles. Two other humans joined the group in the sand; the one with glasses looked as if he had better things to do while the dark-haired one next to him looked rather pleasant.

“Oh, good! Everyone’s here,” Daichi exclaimed, catching a return from Tanaka. He motioned for everyone to sit down as a hand ran through his hair. “As you all know, tonight is our first official practice. The beach volleyball league has officially started, which means we are one day closer to the summer tournament. That also means we need to start the hard work so that we can win and take the trophy!”

  
The team resumed their practice as Kiyoko set up lights surrounding the court, lighting only the sand. They eventually broke into a three-on-three game, with Daichi, Asahi, and Noya on one side of the net, with Tsukishima, Tanaka, and Ennoshita on the other. Kiyoko sat nearby in a fold-up chair, keeping score on a small whiteboard. Daichi was a childhood friend, so she didn't mind helping out with the beach's volleyball team when he approached her.

 

Suga found himself in shallow water before he knew it, thankfully hidden by the cover of darkness. Sitting in the sand, he watched the game carefully, the waves gently crashing against him. He was finally close enough to really see Daichi, excited at the idea of being close to him. There were the other humans, too, sweating as they played their match... but they weren't important.

"Daichi! Cover!" Noya shouted as he received Tanaka's serve, watching the ball spin after it hit his forearm. The captain moved quickly, setting the ball for Asahi to spike.

"Nice one, Daichi," Asahi smiled as they scored the final point of their game.

The merman tilted his head as he followed the team's movement before connecting Daichi to the lifeguard. It dawned on him that he had never heard his name; a few of the other teammates had said it before, but he didn't know what it meant.

Now he did.

Suga mouthed the name to himself, watching Daichi as he clapped everyone on the back for doing a good job during practice. The captain soon turned out towards the open water as his teammates packed up the net and volleyballs. For a moment, the moon's light caught the merman's tail in the shallow water, causing Daichi to step forward. Suga's heart skipped for a moment as he swore they made eye contact, and quickly swam off towards deeper water.

 


	5. Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi makes a rash decision.

Daichi cursed as he realized what he had seen in the water was a mermaid. A merman, rather - his merman. The moon hit the water and the silver tail was illuminated as it moved beneath the surface. A hand ran through his hair as he turned back to the team, putting his ‘captain smile’ on once again. 

 

“Good practice, everyone. Let’s be here the same time tomorrow, yeah?” 

 

After the court was cleared up and everyone was well on their way home, Daichi sat on the sand close to the shore. He pulled out his folded up piece of paper and a pen from his bag, forehead wrinkled in frustration. The merman was so close, and at the same time, totally out of reach, just like in his dreams. A frustrated grunt escaped his lips as he stared at the open water, wishing he had a better reaction time before coming up with a ‘brilliant’ idea. Daichi shucked off his shirt and stood up, walking towards the water. 

 

Sure, swimming at night was reckless, but Daichi needed closure. Badly.

 

Swimming out to the boundary rocks was one way he felt he would get it.

  
  


Suga didn’t swim off very far after making eye contact with the lifeguard. He hid behind the usual boundary rock, head tilted back as he let out a content sigh. Seeing Daichi so close, under the bright lights and surrounded by darkness definitely did a number on him. His heart was pounding and his stomach was doing cartwheels. 

 

The chatter from the beach slowly died down as the merman caught his breath, silver tail gleaming in the moonlight. As Suga peered around the rock to make sure there was no one left, his lips pursed as he noticed the lights were still on. There was no one on the beach, so why were they still shining on the volleyball court?

 

Then came the sound of someone swimming. 

 

Suga gasped as he saw the outline of someone swimming towards the boundary rock, a determined look on his face. The merman cursed under his breath - what was this human thinking?! The moon was bright, yes, but it was no sun. There was no way he could see properly, let alone gauge his distance from the shore for his return.

 

Suga then came to the realization that Daichi was swimming out to find him when the moonlight hit his face.

  
  
  


Daichi tried to move as fast as possible, pushing himself to reach the rocks in record time. If the merman wasn't there, he’d just do the exact same thing the next night. And the night after that. He would push himself until he found the merman and introduced himself. Daichi had so many questions he wanted to ask the merman, so many things he wanted to know.

 

He also wanted to know how warm his skin was and what his laugh sounded like.

  
  


There was suddenly a loud splash as Suga tried to stop Daichi from getting any closer. The lifeguard stopped dead in his tracks right before the boundary rock, looking around as he tread water. The waves were beginning to pick up and the moon was finding cloud cover, and Daichi was running out of time.

 

“Hello?” he called out, head turning quickly at the sound of another splash near the other rock. He moved towards it, fueled by his desire to know the merman. Daichi gripped at the rock as Suga swam beneath him, the darkness moving in almost too quickly. “Uh -- hello?” 

 

“Why did you do this?” Suga responded, pressing his back flat against the furthest rock. He cursed himself for speaking, but he wanted to protect Daichi from doing anything else idiotic. 

 

Daichi jumped, head nearly snapping as he spun around. “What do you mean, ‘why?’ Who are you?”

 

“Daichi,” Suga pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing before he moved to the other side of the rock, his figure dimly lit by the moon. The lifeguard’s breath hitched as he heard his name, eyes wide as he saw an angelic figure before him.  “Daichi, please turn around. Swim back to the shore. This is dangerous and you know it.”

 

The lifeguard’s breath hitched as he heard his name, eyes wide as he saw an angelic figure before him.  “How do you know my name?” He could barely get the question out, reaching forward only to have the merman move backward.

 

“I’m not answering that. You need to turn around.”

 

“At least tell me yours!? Please --” Daichi was begging, trying to make out the details on Suga’s face in the dim light. The mermaid looked as if he were glowing, his tail barely noticeable in the dark water. “--please, I - I have so many questions..” 

 

It was as if he was living the dream he had the past few nights, reaching for the merman with no result. 

 

“Daichi.” Suga’s voice was stern, lips pressed into a thin line. “There… There will be a time for questions. But now  -  now you need to go home.” He hated what he was saying, how he had to use the human’s name against him, and the way it simply rolled off his tongue. It shouldn’t be this easy to say it. “ _ Please _ .” 

 

Daichi exhaled sharply out of his nose and quickly turned around. He was so angry - the merman was so close! Each stroke was full of aggravation as he kicked back to the shore, trying his best not to look back. How could he let this happen, leaving with more questions than answers?

 

Suga sighed as he watched the human swim, his path skewed by the darkness. A tear rolled down his cheek, and he found himself surprised. There were so many things he wanted to ask Daichi, so many things he wanted to know… and he turned him away.

  
  
  


Daichi showed up twenty minutes late to work the next morning, bags under his eyes accompanied by dark circles. He was tormented by the merman in his sleep once more, always reaching for his hand. This time, it was in complete darkness, with only the glow of his tail, and Daichi swore he heard his name being whispered. The sound filled his head from the moment he left the water, and he wondered if he was put under some spell. 

 

Merfolk could do that sort of thing, right?

  
  
  
Suga spent the rest of his night and most of his morning tapping his forehead against a rock. He was frustrated with the way he had acted, and, with the way he nearly wavered with Daichi. This was getting bad, and he needed help. Thankfully he had not been found by Hinata and made an easy escape to a small alcove further down the shore, away from Daichi’s beach. The private alcove was littered with rocks in various sizes, uninhabited by humans. 

 

It was, however, where one Tooru Oikawa was perched, his aquamarine tail sparkling in the sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAYE I've updated! It also brings the introduction of mer!Oikawa!!
> 
> Sorry for taking so long. I'm still trying to plan everything out ;-; I've also been distracted making graphics and playlists!!
> 
> You can yell at me on tumblr: http://riseofthextombraider.tumblr.com


	6. Of Thighchis and Iwa-chans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga meets with the merman Oikawa.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Refreshing himself,” the turquoise-tailed merman grinned, waving from atop the rock he was perched on.

“Oikawa,” Suga smiled, shaking the water from his hair. 

The water around them was clear, nearly the same colour as Oikawa’s tail. Suga pulled himself up onto the same rock, droplets of water on his own tail drawing the light in. The two of them, perched upon the rock, looked like something out of a fairytale. 

“You should be thankful I allow you to interrupt my tanning time,” the dark-haired merman snickered, resting his chin on his hand as he laid back down.

“I know this time is so precious to you, I’m sorry,” Suga laughed as he rolled his eyes, leaning back on his hands. “Listen… I need your help.”

“What, with Chibi-chan and Tobio-chan?”

“No, no. Something.. Different,” the silver merman said with a wave of his hand. He wasn’t sure how to be straightforward about the whole situation, especially with someone like Oikawa. 

“Okay, hit me.”

“Do you know what volleyball is?”

Oikawa burst into laughter. “I thought you were going to be asking me something else, something serious, Suga! N-Not about balls!”

“Oikawa… I am being serious,” Suga groaned, running a hand through his hair. He knew coming to the other merman about this would come with problems.

“Okay, okay. Yes. I do.”  
“How? It’s - it’s a human thing.”

“I happen to be quite friendly with one.” There was a gleam in Oikawa’s eyes and something about him just seemed to change. Who was this human he was friendly with? How could a human stand to be friendly with Oikawa? 

“Since when?” The question slipped out of Suga’s mouth and he cringed. 

“It’s been a little while since we’ve talked, Mr. Refreshing,” Oikawa smirked, moving himself closer to Suga, “but his name is Iwa-chan.” 

“--Iwa-chan..?” Suga started, but was quickly interrupted by Oikawa, waving him off. 

“He’s absolutely stunning. He’s strong, and fast - he can keep up with me when I swim! He has hair that, somehow, manages to stick up in every direction, even if it’s wet. I don’t get it. Part of me wants to tame it, but Iwa-chan just looks so cute! He spikes really well and his arms are just perfect. Like I said, he’s strong. He’s even teaching me how to hit a volleyball.”

Suga lit up at Oikawa’s words as the other merman continued on, gushing about his human. 

“He’s teaching you how to hit a volleyball?”

“...was that all you got out of everything I just said?” Oikawa pouted, lips pursed together as Suga shrugged. “Fine. Yes, he’s teaching me how to hit a volleyball. And something about setting? That way, he can get better at spiking the ball and his overall game. I mean, I’m not the best, but I’m a better alternative to tossing a volleyball against a rock and hoping he can hit it.”

“Teach me too! Please, Oikawa.”

“You want me to teach you? Is there now a human in your life too?” Oikawa asked, smirking. 

Suga felt his face turn red at the question, and tried to wave Oikawa off. “I just -- want to learn! That’s all.”

“Sugawara, I can tell you’re lying --” Oikawa sang, leaning closer to the silver-tailed merman. 

“His name is - is Daichi! Sawamura Daichi!”

“Thighchi?”

“What the hell is a Thighchi?” Suga mumbled from behind his hands, which currently covered his face. He was trying to hide his embarrassment, but it wasn’t working so well. 

“You don’t know? Even Iwa-chan has mentioned Thighchi before! I heard he’s beautiful. Not as beautiful as my Iwa-chan, but his thighs are definitely something to look at.”

Everything suddenly made sense.

 

“Thighchi is back on the beach today!” one girl gasped, walking onto the sand with a group of friends. 

“He’s always here, haven’t you noticed?” another girl said, “I wouldn’t mind drowning if he saved me.”

Daichi tried his best to ignore the girls squabbling around him. His rather unfortunate nickname spread across the beach like wildfire; he swore it spawned on his first day on the job. It was definitely not something he wanted to deal with after a sleepless night. Thankfully, the day was winding down and soon, it would be time for practice. Daichi would finally be able to get his mind off the water and focus on the team, along with their upcoming practice matches. 

It would also provide for a good distraction from the merman’s voice, replaying his name over and over again. The sound of the waves crashing across the beach had even been replaced by it towards the end of his shift, and Daichi felt he was under a spell. He had even spent his break trying to get his phone’s internet browser to work, searching for anything regarding mermen and magic. 

Nothing came up.

 

“Go work your magic on him, Mr. Refreshing!” Oikawa cheered, waving goodbye before swimming off.

The sun was starting to set, and Suga swam off in the direction of Daichi’s beach. He and Oikawa spent the entire day conversing about humans, volleyball, and Iwa-chan. He didn’t really want to spend so much time on the topic of the other merman’s human, but it got him to understand humans a bit more. Or, so he hoped. 

Suga was determined to complete a few things that night. The first - to somehow grab a volleyball. He needed to start practicing, and there was no way he was going to be able to do so with a rock. That was at the top of his list, and he was going to do that no matter what.

The second thing on Suga’s list was a little bit on the questionable side. He wanted to tell Daichi his name. The silver mermaid was incredibly nervous about doing this - sure, he had talked to Daichi the night before, but that was without looking at him. Facing Daichi was a whole different situation.

The third thing on his list was something that was going to be easier, at least in his mind. He was going to observe the volleyball team. Regularly. Suga wanted to learn the game - sure, he’d never play on land, but knowing how to play would help with speaking to Daichi. 

As he ran through his mental checklist, Suga’s tail caught the reflection of the sun through the water. He was swimming rather close to the surface, and the sun was starting to settle low beyond the horizon. The pink skyline reflected a light purple colour off the water, and off the merman’s tail. He wasn’t being as cautious as he normally would be - something felt different about this swim over to the beach. 

Was he excited to see Daichi, even after his stupid decision to swim out in the middle of the night? 

Oikawa would say yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying the adventures of mer-Suga! Merman Oikawa will be getting his own fic in this series as well, but that will not be published until later. It runs parallel to Daichi and Suga's story, and the two will even have intersecting chapters! I can't wait to keep this plot going.


	7. Hoomans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is super short - I'm sorry it's been almost a month since an update. Things have gotten quite hectic in my life, so the next few chapters will be broken up into smaller ones rather than being larger chapters. Thanks for reading!

As Suga swam closer to the shore, he felt his heart starting to pound out of his chest. The beating echoed into his ears and he tried to push himself further. The shoreline was in clear view now, and he could barely make out the slender figures setting up for practice. 

On the beach, Daichi found himself distracted for a moment by something in the corner of his eye. His head snapped towards the water and he squinted; something managed to catch the setting sun just right. With an irritated huff, he turned back to ordering his team around. Practice needed to start, and they had spent more time than anticipated setting up.

He was roughly fifty feet from the shore when Suga felt himself stop moving. His heartbeat turned into more of a pounding, which he quickly chalked up to his nerves. The merman had told the human to swim away, yet there he was, close to the shore and watching carefully. 

In the back of his head, Suga heard Oikawa egging him on, telling him to get closer, to wave to him, or even return a ball. He cursed under his breath - what else were friends for?

 

Daichi began practice with receives, as the routine had quickly become a workout to improve their overall weaknesses. Nishinoya was the strongest out of the entire team, next to Daichi, but Tanaka and Asahi lacked in that department. With the tournament slowly creeping up on them, Karasuno needed to put a lot of work in.

 

Suga managed to push himself closer to the shore, now in the cover of darkness as he watched the team practice. The merman could clearly see Daichi’s face from his perch, treading water as quietly as possible.

There was soon a loud splash from behind him, and Suga hoped that the humans didn’t hear it. He quickly turned around only to be met with a flailing set of arms that could only belong to one goldfish - Hinata. Suga cursed under his breath as he tried to keep Hinata - and Kageyama, who immediately surfaced after - away from the shore and definitely away from the humans.

“WOOAAAAAH,” Hinata started, his mouth making a large ‘o’ as he spotted the humans on the beach, “Suga-san, I didn’t know you went this close to hoomans!”

Kageyama wrinkled his nose and huffed, looking rather stoic next to the very animated Hinata. 

“Why are you here?” Suga started, his voice a rough whisper as he tried to calm Hinata down. 

“Yachi said that you were out still and that Oikawa and you had a conversation about something on a rock today and that you spoke to a Thichi and --”  
Hinata was abruptly cut off by Kageyama. “Dumbass! We’re here because we wanted to see what Sugawara-san was doing!”

Suga pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. Between Kageyama’s shouting and Hinata’s floundering in the water, they were sure to draw attention. 

And they did. 

Tanaka quickly heard someone else speaking and stopped dead in his tracks, looking out toward the water.

“Did you hear that?” 

“Hear what, Tanaka?” Ennoshita asked as Daichi looked out towards the water. 

With everyone being distracted by something Tanaka had heard out in the water, the ball that was supposed to land within the court changed trajectories. Asahi’s spike began to shift towards the water, slowly landing among the crashing waves.

 

“UWAAAH, WHAT’S THAT?!” Hinata shouted, pointing at the volleyball before diving off to get closer.

All hell suddenly broke loose.


	8. Balls.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata really needs a leash of some sort.

Hinata made far too much noise when he swam. He also swam quickly - Suga knew this, but he didn't realize how quickly when he tried to grab the goldfish’s tail in an effort to stop him. 

“Hinata! Hinata GET BACK HERE!” The silver merman shouted, throwing all reason away as he tried swam forward.

Kageyama realized what Hinata was after and immediately sped past Suga. “Dumbass! I want that too!”

 

Daichi immediately started to sprint towards the ball - a reflex, really - but something inside him snapped when he swore he heard the merman’s voice. His feet started moving faster than before, urging him forward until he was almost bowled over.

Ennoshita groaned as Tanaka and Nishinoya sped by their captain for the ball, crashing into the water before they suddenly grabbed at the volleyball. They were met with resistance - and both fought for control of the ball. Tanaka pulled, doing his best to pull it out of the water. It was oddly resisting him until there was a loud set of splashes.

 

There was suddenly a mixed chorus of ‘UWAAAAH’ and ‘HOLY SHIT’ from the water - and a very sudden string of curses.

“What the FUCK are you two doing?!” Daichi and Suga said in unison as four sets of hands tried to pull at the volleyball in the crashing waves.

The ball dropped into the water and the parties split, heads bowed as their respective elder’s eye twitched involuntarily. Daichi and Suga huffed - in unison - as they crossed their arms over their chest.

Asahi and Ennoshita watched from the beach, along with Kiyoko who managed to have a slight smile across her face. No one understood what the hell was going on, other than the fact that three people appeared out of nowhere in the water.

No one bothered to try and ask Daichi about what was going on. Perhaps they’d chalk it up to being tired, from being out in the sun for too long.

Or, not.

It took Tanaka and Nishinoya roughly 15 and a half seconds to realized that their opponents for the ball had tails.

It took another 3 for them to manage a response to the revelation. 

“HOLY SHI--”

Hinata and Kageyama gave each other a look before grabbing the ball. The two squabbled for a minute as Suga remained behind them, head in his hands as he groaned.

They were in so much trouble.

 

The silver merman reflected the moonlight more than either of the younger mermen, so when he approached the two, the watching humans silently gasped. Suga looked beautiful, and Daichi cursed under his breath. How could this be real? How could this be happening? How was his merman feet away in shallow water, trying to break up the foils of his own teammates?

“Leave. Now,” he ordered the arguing pair as the two similar humans stared, mouths open. Suga glanced up at Daichi - something he wished he didn't do - before pulling Hinata and Kageyama apart by their ears. “Now!”

The lump in his throat was hard to swallow around - Daichi was there, standing so close to him - but he had to protect his people. Suga glanced up once more, taking in the full sight of Daichi standing up, and the way his shorts hung off his hips and around his thighs. 

Thankfully, he was torn from his gaze when the loud pair of splashes started to move, though their arguing continued even as they began to swam. Suga nodded curtly to Daichi before moving towards deeper water himself.

It wasn't until they were back at the caves did Suga realize that Hinata and Kageyama kept the volleyball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little different. I decided to change a few things up with the pacing and how I wanted things to go later on. It was also much shorter than I anticipated, but I didn't really feel like making this whole exchange go on forever. I feel like I've done enough of that with my earlier chapters, hence the change in pacing. I'm hoping to update again relatively soon before my summer course starts! 
> 
> Feel free to yell at me on tumblr: riseofthextombraider.tumblr.com


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